1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a tape mounting system that mounts products to a tape.
2. Background Information
A bag manufacturing and packaging machine is an example of an apparatus that manufactures bags and packages articles by manufacturing a bag while filling the inside of the bag with articles to be packaged, such as snacks and candies. For example, in a bag manufacturing and packaging machine called a longitudinal pillow-type packaging machine, a former forms packaging material, which is a sheet-shaped film, into a tubular shape, and a longitudinal sealing mechanism heat seals (thermally welds) the overlapping longitudinal edges of the tubularly shaped packaging material, thus forming a tubular packaging material. Further, once the tubular packaging material, which will ultimately form a bag, is filled with articles to be packaged, a transverse sealing mechanism below the tube heat seals the upper end part of the bag, which is also the lower end part of the successive bag, and a cutter subsequently horizontally cuts the center of that heat sealed part (the transverse seal part).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,895 discloses an apparatus in which a tape mounting mechanism is provided on the side of such a bag manufacturing and packaging machine, products (bags) manufactured by the bag manufacturing and packaging machine are transported to this tape mounting mechanism, and are successively mounted to a strip tape that descends vertically.
The apparatus in the abovementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,895 mounts products to a strip tape by suspending the strip tape from a roller, spraying a hot melt (adhesive) onto the strip tape in a substantially vertical state, and pressing the strip tape against the upper end part of the product.
However, in the case of mounting products to a strip tape in a vertical state, there is a relatively strong potential for the strip tape to undesirably move in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (vertical direction) of the strip tape. As a result, there is a risk of failures in product mounting, deviations in the product mounting position, and the like.
In addition, the products must be pressed against the strip tape for at least a prescribed period of time when mounting the products to the strip tape using an adhesive of the abovementioned type. Furthermore, the products must also be pressed against the strip tape for at least a prescribed period of time when mounting the products to the strip tape by thermal welding. Accordingly, in the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 3,864,895, wherein products are mounted to the strip tape in a vertical state, there is a risk that the weight of each product itself will act upon the adhering part of the strip tape, causing the product to fall off the strip tape before the product sufficiently adheres to the strip tape.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved tape mounting mechanism that overcomes the above-described problem. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.